Seriously Amazing Blueberry Muffins

(OH HEAVEN THESE ARE THE BEST MUFFINS I’VE EVER MADE NOM NOM NOM OH NO I JUST ATE THREE MUFFINS AND NOW I HAVE TO MAKE MORE GAH MUFFINS MUFFINS MUFFINS THEY’RE LIKE FINS BUT WITH MUFFS)

Ahem.

But I have an awkward and painful relationship with muffins, just because they caused me so much stress for so long. A few months ago, I took a basic muffin recipe and tweaked it to the point where I wouldn’t know the original recipe if it slapped me in the face and introduced itself.

Okay, I probably would by then.

But I literally have pages of notes on which tweaks worked and which didn’t. It’s crazy. I’m crazy. These muffins are crazy (good).

I hate baking muffins now, but I love muffins at the same time.

The entire story of these muffins is quite long, and the road to here was difficult. Perhaps I’ll write about it one day. But for now, we’re here. Enjoy the view.

And then eat it. Eat five of them.

The Best Blueberry Muffins

Notes: Look, I know I’m all about that easy recipe, but muffins are like kids. You spend time with them, you nurture them, you mix them well, and they turn out good and sweet. You don’t prepare them for the world and they’ll turn out tough and nasty. This recipe isn’t one of my shortcut recipes (sorry not sorry), because if there’s one thing you shouldn’t take shortcuts on, it’s muffins and sketchy roads. Okay that’s two things. In both cases, it takes extra take time, but it’s worth it.

To enhance the blueberry flavor, I decided to incorporate the blueberries in concentrated jam form. Don’t even ask me how I came up with this idea. You can see my original jam recipe here, but I’ve included it below as well. You can use any berries you want; I just had blueberries on hand.

This recipe makes 12 muffins. Because I only wanted to eat 12.

Taste & Texture: Because the blueberries are mixed in in the form of jam, the blueberry flavor is more concentrated and prominent. I also used buttermilk to make the crumb lighter and fluffier. These muffins are soft and springy, and they don’t get tough after a couple of days in storage.

Ingredients:

For the jam:

2 or 3 cups blueberries

3 tsp sugar

For the muffin (please don’t get scared and run away):

2 ½ cup flour + 1 tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 ¼ cup sugar

2 eggs

¼ cup oil + 3 tbsp butter

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup regular milk + 1 tbsp white vinegar)

2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps:

1. Make the buttermilk (if you don’t have any real buttermilk). Add milk to 1 tbsp vinegar until you reach the 1 cup mark. Let it sit while you go about your muffin-making business. It’ll curdle like a turtle.

2. Brown the butter. Turn stove to Medium, toss in 3 tbsp butter, and let it simmer and splatter until it turns brown and a nutty aroma comes from the butter. It’s heavenly. Now stop drooling and take it off the stove to let it cool.

3. Make the jam. Turn stove to Medium, mix 2 or 3 cups berries and 3 tsp sugar. Squish the berries as they heat up. After about 2 minutes it’ll be a jam-like consistency. Take it off the stove.

This was the moment when I finally got tired of sketchy kitchen lighting.

7. Pour the wet into the dry and very very gently fold. Using a spatula, scoop batter from the side of the bowl and with a turning motion, flip it into the middle of the bowl. No matter how much you want to, don’t mix completely. You should be able to see streaks of unmixed flour.

Don’t. You. Dare. Mix. Again.

8. Pour into muffin cups. Fill it up almost to the brim.

I’m very neat when it comes to pouring muffin batter.

9. Swirl in the jam. Use a chopstick or a small spoon and just whirl it a few times.

Can I just eat one now?

10. Sprinkle generously with sugar. Generously.

I had leftover blueberries so I just threw those in as well. I figured it’d fit in better than my leftover Ramen.

10. Let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes, then bake at 425F for about 13-14 minutes, turning halfway through.

The sugar sprinkled on top turns into this crisp shell, crunching as you bite in. The blueberry jam is tangy, sweet, and very blueberry-y; it contrasts perfectly with the fluffy texture and soft sweetness of the muffin itself. The browned butter gives it a slight nutty aroma, and the buttermilk gives it that complex little twist of flavor. There is no way I can adequately describe this, so you take a look:

Great to see you getting such a kick out of your baking! You know what, the first time I made muffins, they turned out hard like biscuits because yes, I mixed the lumps out of them :)) Lesson learnt the hard way!
PS : I have no stand mixer either 🙂

Hey!
I’ve just been tagged with the Liebster award! And As part of the game, it is now in my hands to pass it on, and nominate other bloggers as well. You have been awarded!
The Liebster Award is given to up and coming blogs, or blogs that have been inspiring in some way to the nominator. She tagged me… I tag you… you tag them… kind of thing.
You list 10 random facts about yourself. Answer the ten questions I posted. Come up with ten questions for your own nominees. Then nominate 5-10 blogs that make you happy.
Participation is not mandatory!!
Full details and questions can be found in my post here: http://fruitofthehands.wordpress.com/2013/08/07/fruit-of-the-hands-has-been-given-the-liebster-award/
Thanks for writing such a great blog!
Rozee
Fruitofthehands.wordpress.com

Really really love the ingredients you’re working with for these muffins. Cornstarch and buttermilk I’m sure would make these to die for! I’m a muffin fanatic, so you know I’ll be making these this weekend 🙂